Divine Interruptions-The Radical Gospel

This week we talked a little about the Philippian jailor and his conversion experience. God interrupted his life suddenly. One day he went to work, knowing nothing of Jesus, and that night he was baptized. What a massive change to happen in the span of a few hours! As I have reflected on that conversion more, it made me think about just how radical the call to follow Jesus would have been in the ancient world.

Ancient prisons were nasty places, at least in the time of the New Testament in Rome. Prisoner rights were essentially non-existent. The state didn’t see a need to provide medical care, temperature control, safety from fellow inmates, or often even food! This is the sort of place that the jailor is in charge of running. When Paul comes and teaches love of enemies, or Jesus words about providing freedom for the captives, it must have felt so strange. While treating all people, including convicts, with a general degree of dignity is something that is just part and parcel of our modern understanding of human rights, it would have been a somewhat foreign concept to the man we meet in Acts 16. Just how radical would he have heard the call of Jesus to be?

The beauty and challenge of being a Christian in the 21st century is that some of the core concepts behind Christianity are not as unusual as they used to be. This is in part because the teachings of Christ have been so influential throughout the world. “Treat others as you would like to be treated” is sort of assumed in most people’s ethics today. In this way, God has worked to make the world a much better place. We can be thankful we live in a kinder and gentler place than ancient Rome. On the other hand, sometimes it is difficult to show that Christianity offers a marked improvement over ways of conceiving of ethics and morality. In order to meet this challenge it is important for Christians to still be radically committed to living selflessly for others and living out our commitment to improve the lives of all with whom we come in contact.